


Secrets of the Quiet Night

by chxrlieweaslxy



Series: Drarropoly 2020 [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drarropoly: A Drarry Game/Fest, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Pre-Relationship, emotionally constipated boys having crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27722882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chxrlieweaslxy/pseuds/chxrlieweaslxy
Summary: Malfoy is definitely up to something and Harry is determined to find out where exactly he keeps going to in the middle of the night.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: Drarropoly 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027792
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83
Collections: Drarropoly '20: Founders Edition





	Secrets of the Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for Drarropoly 2020! The prompt is: Having a secret hideaway is great until someone else discovers it and it isn't so secret anymore.

Harry sat himself down in a plush armchair across from where Hermione was studying seriously and Ron was zoning out in the general direction of his books. He looked up gratefully when he saw Harry, but Harry didn’t smile back. In fact, he had a serious matter to discuss. He leaned forward conspiringly, leaning his elbows on the coffee table. Even Hermione lowered the book she was reading out of interest.

“Malfoy is up to something,” Harry declared.

“Harry!” Hermione groaned. “I thought you were _friendly_ with him now.”

Harry ignored her for the moment and turned to Ron, only to see apprehension on his friends’ face as well. He sat back with a frustrated sigh.

“We _are_ friendly,” he mumbled, which was a bit of a lie. “But I’ve been watching him a bit more closely lately, and I’m sure of it. He’s going somewhere at night, no doubt doing something objectionable.”

Ron looked at him with some sort of pity while Hermione just frowned. The truth of it was, Harry felt frustrated _especially_ because he was on better terms with Malfoy nowadays. After they’d returned for their eighth year, Malfoy had gathered all returning students in their new common room and apologized. Not everyone appreciated this, but Harry had been intrigued. They worked together in class sometimes, seeing as Ron and Hermione usually paired up together. Malfoy had really changed, Harry thought. He’d always been quick-witted, but it was funnier now that Harry wasn’t the butt of the joke. Malfoy often checked to see if Harry was laughing and Harry often was, which Harry thought was nice. 

“It’s probably nothing bad, though,” Ron said. “What he’s up to, I mean.” He sat back on the sofa and tucked his feet under Hermione’s legs.

“You’ve been hanging out with him…?”

Hermione hummed in agreement.

“It could have all been an act,” Harry said. Even while he said it, he wasn’t sure he believed it. But he just couldn’t shake the feeling that something about their newfound friendship felt a little _off._

That day Harry paid close attention to Malfoy. This was easier than it had been before, because they were spending loads more time in each other’s vicinity now. Malfoy was looking really tired; his skin was even paler than usual and he had dark circles under his eyes. How had he not noticed that before?

In the evening Harry channelled his inner Hermione by working on his homework for the week. One by one, people were trickling out of the common room to go to bed. Ron had initially joined Harry, but didn’t hold out much past eleven.

“I’m off to bed,” He yawned. “Are you coming?”

“In a little, I’ve almost finished that essay on conjuration.”

Ron’s eyes widened in shock. “I forgot all about that one!” A yawn broke him out of his new-found stress. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Good luck, mate.”

Harry was at last alone in the common room. He shoved his homework aside, took out his invisibility cloak and covered himself with it. Now there was nothing left to do but wait.

Half an hour later he had resorted to picking at the frayed hems of his pyjama. Harry let his mind wander… he had already come up with a million things Malfoy could be doing at night, none of them commendable.

The door leading to the dormitories opened so quietly that Harry almost didn’t hear it. He immediately froze beneath his cloak. Malfoy peered into the common room, and when he found it empty, he snuck towards the door out. He was wearing a cloak over his pyjamas and his feet were clad in thick, woollen socks instead of shoes, just like Harry’s own.

As soon as Malfoy turned his back, Harry quietly got up and hurried after him towards the door. He had to walk really close behind Malfoy in order to slip through the door without touching it himself. Harry felt the warmth radiating from Malfoy’s body. It made him shiver, but he didn’t feel cold.

Malfoy opened the door wide enough that Harry got out without trouble. He kept a brisk pace as he led them a couple floors up. Harry was doing everything he could to muffle the sounds of his breathing and footsteps. Finally, Malfoy stopped in front of a large tapestry. Harry couldn’t quite make out the people on it in the dark, but the stars in the embroidered sky seemed to twinkle and glow.

Malfoy sighed. Harry snapped his head in his direction, the twinkling stars immediately forgotten. The other boy’s shoulders were tense as he turned to where Harry was standing.

“You can take that thing off now, Potter,” Malfoy snapped.

Harry froze. Had he not been quiet enough? He let a couple of seconds pass before he moved, unnerved. Malfoy was looking straight at him. Slowly, he lifted the cloak over his head.

Malfoy didn’t move a muscle upon seeing Harry appear. “What do you want?”

“See what you’re up to,” Harry blustered. He’d imagined catching Malfoy in the act of doing something he shouldn’t have been doing, not the other way around.

Malfoy didn’t answer immediately. The silence of the castle at night weighed extra heavy between them, until Malfoy finally bit out, “You could’ve just asked me.”

He turned around briskly and grabbed the right edge of the tapestry. He peeled it away from the wall. His hold on the thick fabric was delicate, his slender hands distracted Harry for a moment. He blinked hard, turning his attention back to what Malfoy had revealed behind the tapestry. It was evidently not just there as decoration; it was hiding a small, wooden door in the wall behind it.

Malfoy opened the door and stepped through, holding it open behind him for Harry to follow.

Harry opened his mouth to say something about how polite Malfoy was being, but once he saw the inside of the room it was quickly replaced by another question. “What’s this?”

They’d entered a small room with one window overlooking the grounds. A brewing cauldron exuding a faint blue smoke was placed in front of it, basking in the moonlight.

“You’re brewing potions in here?” This had not been at all what Harry expected. He turned to look at Malfoy.

His former enemy was standing in front of a small cupboard carrying what Harry recognized to be potions ingredients; aconite, dittany and knotgrass as well as some half-filled jars.

“Is that not exciting enough for you, Potter?” Malfoy was wringing his hands together nervously.

“But you have such good marks,” Harry said, “Surely you don’t need the extra practice.”

Colour rose to Malfoy’s cheeks when Harry finished speaking. He seemed to be pleased that Harry had taken notice of his grades.

“Additional practice never hurts,” Malfoy muttered.

Harry had to stop himself from scoffing out loud. Malfoy was by far top of the class at potions, probably even tying Hermione. But maybe he felt like he needed to prove himself. It would not surprise Harry if Malfoy didn’t think he really deserved to be back at Hogwarts and besides, Slughorn hadn’t been very kind to him this year. 

“This is not all you do, though,” Harry accused. “You’ve been gone for hours at a time, and surely your potions don’t need _that_ much attention.” He gestured to the potion that sat simmering quietly by the window.

Malfoy sneered. “Are you a prefect now, Potter? I don’t owe you any kind of explanation.”

Harry breathed in deeply, looked at his feet and then said something he did not say very often. “Yeah, sorry.” 

“What?” Malfoy spluttered. He was caught so off-guard that he forgot his manners.

“You’re right. You don’t have to tell me anything.” Harry raised his head and locked eyes with Malfoy. “I just noticed you sneaking out, that’s all.”

At that, Malfoy deflated. His shoulders sagged as he exhaled and even his face relaxed as he looked away from Harry.

“You’re the only one that notices,”

Harry looked at Malfoy, then. His short hair was ruffled from real or pretend sleep. It made him seem more approachable somehow. They stared at each other for a couple seconds, until Malfoys cheeks started getting pink again.

“I have to work on the potion.” He promptly turned around and started stirring carefully, leaving no room for Harry to respond.

Harry didn’t mind. He kept looking at Malfoy, the way his hairs at the back of his neck curled up just so, the little wrinkle between his eyebrows as he focused on his potion. Malfoy was quite handsome. Shit.

This thought had been floating around in his head for a while, but it had been easy to suppress it when Harry could distract himself with the hustle and bustle of people around him. Right now there was nothing he could do to keep it away, and he found he didn’t mind so much.

Apparently the potion didn’t need to be stirred a whole lot, because after what felt like no more than five minutes, Malfoy turned around again.

“Let’s get back to the dorms and try to get some sleep.” His voice sounded a little strained and he was looking everywhere but at Harry.

“Okay,” Harry said. He opened the door and lifted the tapestry slightly, checking that the hallway was completely empty before emerging. He held the fabric aside for Malfoy, who followed him with a quiet, surprised _thanks_.

They padded through the quiet castle side by side in perfect silence. He didn’t know what Malfoy was thinking about, but now that he had acknowledged his attraction to Malfoy, Harry could not stop noticing it. He felt wide awake, his hands jittery with the need to do _something_. Malfoy however, seemed to be ignoring Harry’s presence, almost like he’d read Harry’s mind and wasn’t pleased with what he’d discovered.

Malfoy stopped in his tracks, grabbing Harry by the arm when he did not immediately notice. Harry’s breath hitched.

“Malfoy…” He whispered a little desperately. But Malfoy shushed him while tightening his grip on Harry’s arm. And then Harry heard it too. The sound of footsteps, just around the corner.

This time when Harry looked over, Malfoy was already looking at him, scared. Surprisingly, it had been a while since Harry had been sneaking around after curfew, but he had not forgotten how to get out of being caught.

He grabbed the bicep of Malfoy’s arm that was holding his, and pushed him towards and then against the wall. Malfoy immediately released his arm, which was great, because Harry needed it to wrap the invisibility cloak around them in a fluid motion.

Harry had to press himself flush against Malfoy in order to fit them both under the cloak, trapping the other boy between himself and the wall.

Filch rounded the corner, carrying a lantern and muttering to himself, Harry noticed vaguely. But his attention wasn’t really on Filch. He was focused on Malfoy with every atom of his body, aware of every point of contact between their bodies. Harry couldn’t stop staring at Malfoy’s slightly parted lips. Almost involuntarily, he started leaning in ever so slowly.

When one of Malfoy’s hands came to rest on Harry’s hip, he seared forward and closed the last of the distance between them. Malfoy’s lips were soft and pliant against his own, but when Harry started kissing him in earnest, they kissed back enthusiastically.

Harry gripped Malfoys robes, hard, pressing himself impossibly closer. Kissing Malfoy felt amazing, dispelling every other useless thoughts from his brain. What else was there to think about when Malfoy was kissing him like his, touching him like _this._ Malfoy had snuck his hand from Harry’s hip up underneath his t-shirt, grazing over his side and Harry’s skin felt like it was on fire.

A soft moan escaped his lips and they broke apart, panting hard. The hallway was empty again, Harry was surprised to notice. But he wasn’t in any hurry to leave, he wanted to kiss Malfoy again. But Malfoy pushed Harry in the chest, making him step away. He slipped out from under the cloak and started walking away promptly.

Harry scrambled after him, crumpling the cloak under his arm as he did.

“Malfoy, wait!” He whispered. Malfoy didn’t hear him or pretended not to. Harry cursed under his breath. Malfoy had clearly wanted to kiss him too, so what was the problem? Was he that bad a kisser?

“Draco!” He tried. Malfoy didn’t acknowledge the use of his given name, didn’t stop walking until they reached the door to the common room. He turned around to face Harry.

“Are you playing a prank on me?” He asked furiously.

“Am I- What? No!” Harry stared at him. Though his tone had been angry, he looked scared more than anything.

“No,” He repeated quietly, and it felt like an admission of something more.

Malfoy opened the door to the common room with unsteady hands. Harry followed him in. Did he fuck it up? Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Something had changed in Malfoy’s face when he turned around. He started moving into Harry’s space, closer and closer until his hands came to rest on his cheeks and his mouth touched Harry’s lips. Harry made a soft sound of surprise. He wanted to get his hands on Malfoy, but the other boy moved away before he had the chance to do so.

“See you tomorrow, then,” Malfoy sounded slightly out of breath.

Draco hadn’t shared with him all that he got up to during his nightly adventures, but Harry was sure now that he would soon tell him all about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudo's and comments are much appreciated. 
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr at https://chxrlieweaslxy.tumblr.com !

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Secrets of the Quiet Night by chxrlieweaslxy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27897634) by [Thunder_of_Dragons Podfic (Thunder_of_Dragons)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunder_of_Dragons/pseuds/Thunder_of_Dragons%20Podfic)




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